Garlic Scape III

The wonderful thing about spring is that cooking and cartoon inspiration come easily.  A walk through the farmer's market in our new neighborhood this past weekend reminded us that is was the appropriate time for yet another scape cartoon.

P.S. Kale Crusaders Headquarters recently relocated to Queens, NY.  Come visit us!

Fiddlehead II

Any Singin' in the Rain fans out there?  Although fiddlehead season is waning, we would not let another spring go by without acknowledging our love for these young, edible ferns.

Since so many folks love to pickle pretty much everything, we decided to share this classic fiddlehead pickle, Kasrod ka Achaar, by Rekha Kakkar at My Tasty Curry.

P.S. We <3 you, fiddleheads, and pickles.

Sunchoke II

Thanks so Gena Hamshaw from Choosing Raw for inspiring today's cartoon.  Last week she posted her Smoky Sunchoke and Cauliflower Soup to encourage us to take advantage of the fleeting opportunities to enjoy sunchokes while they are still in season.  Dig in while you still can!

Coconut VII + Almond

Since starting this cartoon blog, we have spent a significant amount of time on Wikipedia piecing together the plant taxonomies--do you remember kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species from high school biology?  The primary reason for doing this goofy activity is to uncover terms that lend themselves to puns.  Something else that we have discovered is that, in practice, it is often difficult to cleanly conform to this system of classification.

Take for example, the lovely drupe.  The drupe is defined as more or less the fruit of the Prunus genus (as in prunes and other stone fruit).  Who would have guessed that foods like coconuts and almonds fall into the same category as nectarines, apricots, cherries, peaches, plums, mangoes, pistachios, coffee and olives?  This reminds us that biology is also evolving as scientists attempt to create order and identify patterns within a system that was thoughtfully created by humans.

Speaking of amazing human creations, how about this amazing Coconut Almond Granola by Giselle at Diary of an ExSloth? 

P.S. Cadry, thanks for the inspiration for today's cartoon!

Capers

Capers are confusing little buggers.  At first glance and taste, it is difficult to determine whether these salty little bundles originate from land or sea, vegetable or animal. 

Fortunately for us veggie lovers, capers are simply pickled flower buds from the caper bush.  They provide a salty punch of flavor to vegan Caesar dressings and puttanesca pastas!

Zucchini III

OK, maybe we are getting a little ahead of ourselves with zucchini season but spring brings anticipation of trees and plants in bloom.

To celebrate both spring and Cinco de Mayo, enjoy these incredible Zucchini Blossom Tacos (Tacos de Flor de Calabaza) by Caitlin Galer-Unti of The Vegan Word.

Bean Brine IV

Inspired by the recent discovery of bean / chickpea brine as a suitable egg white substitute, our theme this month is "Bean Cuisine." We will devote this month's entire collection of cartoons to the amazing concoctions that come from the humble bean's humble brine.

Growing up, Lucky Charms did not make many appearances in our house but I distinctly remember the 1 or 2 boxes that crossed the threshold into our cupboard when I was about 10 years old. Ever the responsible adult, my mom reminded us that marshmallow cereal was an unacceptable breakfast item and promptly relegated it to the snack category.

Unsurprisingly, my older brother and I ate all of the marshmallows (at snack time, of course) and left most of the cereal in the box. Fortunately, my mom claimed that the marshmallows in Lucky Charms were “too sweet” while the cereal was “just sweet enough” compared to the twig-like Kashi cereal she enjoyed at the time. So began the short-lived but glorious Lucky Charms symbiotic relationship between child and parent.

Thanks to Kelly Peloza at Seitan Beats Your Meat for this amazing Vegan Lucky Charms recipe, inspiring this cartoon, and for bringing back a random, quirky memory of mine.

Bean Brine III

Inspired by the recent discovery of bean / chickpea brine as a suitable egg white substitute, our theme this month is "Bean Cuisine."  We will devote this month's entire collection of cartoons to the amazing concoctions that come from the humble bean's humble brine.

Little known fact: the Kale Crusaders Headquarters is located a mere 15-minute walk from the birthplace of Marshmallow Fluff in Somerville, Massachussets.  Unfortunately we have not attended Somerville's annual Fluff Festival because of the lack of vegan options, up-to-and-including the Marshmallow Fluff.

But now thanks to Mihl of Seitan is My Motor and her innovative Vegan Marshmallow Fluff recipe, we can hold our own Vegan Fluff Festival in our own kitchen whenever we want!

Bean Brine II

Inspired by the recent discovery of bean / chickpea brine as a suitable egg white substitute, our theme this month is "Bean Cuisine."  We will devote this month's entire collection of cartoons to the amazing concoctions that come from the humble bean's humble brine.

Charis Mitchell from Floral Frosting has cracked the vegan macaron code with the assistance of the almighty chickpea brine.   So far Charis has baked up Cookies & Cream Macarons, Peaches & Cream Macarons, and Funfetti Macarons with Rice Crispy Treat Frosting.  We can't wait to see what she dreams up next!

Bean Brine

Inspired by the recent discovery of bean / chickpea brine as a suitable egg white substitute, our theme this month is "Bean Cuisine."  We will devote this month's entire collection of cartoons to the amazing concoctions that come from the humble bean's humble brine.

Becky Striepe, of Glue & Glitter fame, first exposed us to the bean / chickpea brine egg white substitute phenomenon back in March.  Thanks to Becky, Vegan (White Bean) Meringues are now within reach!